da spicy bet： Leeds United’s lack of faith in promising youngsters at the club may end up costing the Yorkshire outfit their Premier League status this season.
da fezbet： A combined 11 goals conceded against Crystal Palace and Liverpool in the last two fixtures have dropped Javi Gracia’s side right back into relegation trouble, with fingers naturally pointed at the defence following two truly abject displays.
The Leeds backline has now conceded more goals than any other side in the Premier League this term, which has no doubt left many fans wondering why the likes of Cody Drameh and Charlie Cresswell were loaned out, with both players catching the eye in the Championship with Luton Town and Millwall respectively.
However, it is perhaps the summer sale of left-back Leif Davis that the Whites may come to regret the most, as the 23-year-old is starring in Ipswich Town’s title challenge in the third tier.
How did Leif Davis do at Leeds United?
Leeds would sign the Englishman from Morecambe in 2018, with the youngster signing a three-year deal with the Elland Road outfit despite never making his professional debut with The Shrimps.
However, it wouldn’t take long for him to make an impression at Thorp Arch and he was rewarded with his debut by Marcelo Bielsa in the 2018/19 campaign, going on to make 14 appearances in total for the club, contributing no goals and one assist.
Although the likes of Barry Douglas and Ezgjan Alioski were both ahead of Davis in the pecking order, the legendary Argentine manager clearly felt that Davis was destined for big things in the future, as he sang his praises in 2019.
He said: Davis is a great player, full of future, resources and skills. Maybe for this reality he is not inside the group of 11, but all his tendencies are good.
“In my opinion, Davis was far from the first team in our first year, and after he worked a lot in the team, with brilliant willingness, a lot of effort, and dedication, he gives everything.
“After he became a better player he started to strengthen his play, which before he didn’t have.”
However, he struggled to break into the first team in the Premier League and was loaned out to Bournemouth in the summer of 2021, managing just 15 appearances under Scott Parker as they won promotion from the Championship.
He did make an impression on the former Fulham boss in his time on the south coast, and was lauded by the Englishman after his performance in a 4-0 win over Swansea City.
Parker said: “He was an animal really and got an assist, so I was pleased for him.”
With Jesse Marsch in charge once the youngster returned to Leeds in the summer, there was perhaps less confidence that he would make it as a regular at Elland Road, despite the struggles of Junior Firpo following his arrival from Barcelona, and Davis was sold to Ipswich Town for a fee of around £1m.
How is Leif Davis performing at Ipswich?
Davis has encapsulated his performance from that Bournemouth win over Swansea and seemingly produced it on a consistent basis so far this campaign, with the 23-year-old one of the standout players in what has been described as one of the best League One teams in history by Not The Top 20 Podcast.
In 38 appearances, the former Leeds man has contributed a hugely impressive three goals and 12 assists, with a superb 7.38 average rating from WhoScored which sees him ranked as the best player in Kieran McKenna’s squad.
In fact, no player in the third tier has earned a higher rating than Davis so far this term, which represents a significant achievement for someone so young, and it seems likely that he will continue to start for Ipswich again next season when they look likely to be in the Championship.
Leeds may already be regretting their decision to sell Davis so cheaply but should they suffer relegation and find themselves in the same league as the Ipswich star next season, it will only hammer home Victor Orta’s mistake.
When you consider that Leeds’ first-choice left-back options of Firpo and Max Wober have managed 6.50 and 6.77 average ratings from WhoScored, with just one goal and one assist between them, it could definitely be argued that the Yorkshire outfit have missed a full-back of Davis’ obvious attacking ability.
His return of 3.1 key passes per game in League One is comfortably better than everyone in Leeds’ squad, with Jack Harrison’s 1.6 per game the best on offer at Elland Road.
This emphasises just how much Leeds could have benefited from Davis had he been given more game time in the top flight, and if he stars again in the Championship next season, the decision to sell him will surely be considered a big error.